Ice is Nice

Fire and Ice

Recently, I had some severe back muscle pain brought about by a couple of vertebrae drifting out of alignment. Although the chiropractor was able to straighten me out, the muscles and nerves in that area were still going to be tender for a while. Before he let me leave the office, he had me sit on a couch with an ice pack on my back for 10 minutes. As homework, he prescribed that I continue to ice the area 6 times a day for the next few days. The application of ice slows the blood flow to the injured area, so you need to be careful to not over-do it as blood flow is required for healing. The doc also told me to wrap the ice in a towel and not to exceed 10 minutes at a go and wait an hour before re-icing. I learned that it is very important to limit the damage that can be caused by inflammation. I thought inflammation was just a symptom, I didn’t know it was harmful in it’s own right. 

I became curious and went to Google for the answer.

*Disclaimer; for every answer you find on Google there are a dozen conflicting ones!

Be sure to do your own research or talk to your own Medicine Man if you need treatment. 

This is what I found, from the Harvard Medical School.

Inflammation is like a fire in your body you cannot see or feel. “It’s a smoldering process that injures your tissues, joints, and blood vessels, and you often do not notice it until significant damage is done,” says Dr. Andrew Luster, of the Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases at Harvard. The damage might show up as arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Smoldering! Sounds serious. I don’t want any of that happening, so I’m on the ice. Like stretching and exercising, you are more likely to adopt a good practice if you know there is a payoff. I hope this gets you thinking about taking care of your injuries and you experience speedy recoveries. 

All the best

Coach Mark